A Rae of Light in the Darkness
by Iforgottt
Summary: "Hey! Wait for me" The small girl yelled as she struggled to keep up with the two older boys in front of her. The three were running through the streets of Radiant Garden dodging people and vendor's carts. Today was the first day of summer vacation. This story features an OC and is a romance/ adventure/hurt/ loss set before Birth By Sleep. Rough outline of 41 chapters planned.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey! Wait for me" The small girl yelled as she struggled to keep up with the two older boys in front of her. The three were running through the streets of Radiant Garden dodging people and vendor's carts. Today was the first day of summer vacation and the streets were more crowded than they had been but this would be the new norm for the next few months. It felt like the whole town was outside.

"Not a chance. We don't want to play with icky girls!" The redheaded boy called back to the girl as he quickened his pace.

"Whoa!" The redhead exclaimed as the other boy grabbed his shoulder and jerked him back just in time to miss the Sea Salt Ice-cream stand in front of him.

"Pay attention, Lea." The other boy said to the redhead releasing his grip on his shoulder.

"Lighten up, Isa. That's why I keep you around, so you can do all the paying attention for me." Lea said with a hearty laugh.

"Come on we are almost there" Isa replied as he took off running again.

The girl willed her legs to carry her faster hearing Lea's comment about her being an icky girl. She watched them come to a stop ahead of her as the redhead almost ran into an ice-cream cart, it wouldn't have been the first time that happened she thought to herself. Just as she was about to catch them the boys took off running again.

They were nearing the outskirts of the town when the two boys looked back and didn't see Rae following them.

* * *

Rae was only eight years old when Lea met her the year before. She was so quiet and shy then. He saw her sitting on a stone bench on the edge of the courtyard watching the other kids play. He and Isa had finished sparing and were on their way to get their Sea Salt Ice-cream and head out to their favorite spot.

Lea sat down on the bench next to her while Isa leaned along the back wall with his arms crossed.

"You must be new." Lea said to her.

"Uh huh" she said never looking up and squirming rather uncomfortably.

"So whatcha doin' ?" Lea asked.

"N-nothing" Rae responded in almost a whisper.

"She doesn't want to talk, Lea. Lets just go." Isa responded coldly.

Lea shot his friend a look. A look Isa was used to getting form him. Isa rolled his eyes. Lea always told him he was too cold and he needed to learn to lighten up and make more friends. Lea was obsessed with making new friends he said he wanted everyone he met to remember him.

"I mean maybe she wants to talk another day" Isa said in a halfhearted attempt to be nicer.

"That's Isa. He's not always a jerk just most of the time" Lea said with a large sheepish grin.

"My name's Lea. Get it memorized." He said tapping two fingers to the temple of his head.

"What's your name?" Lea asked her still trying to draw her out of her shell.

"Rae" she responded more confidently than she had before.

"Well Rae, it's nice to meet you. Maybe next time you watch us spar I won't go so easy on Isa." The redhead said as he stood from the bench and walked away with his Blue haired friend.

* * *

Lea lead Isa down an alley just passed a fountain to wait for Rae.

"If she can't keep up it's not our fault. Why do we always have to wait on her?" Isa said rather annoyed.

"'Cause she's our friend" The redhead said with a matter of fact tone.

The two boys leaned on the sides of the buildings in the alley catching their breath. Both of them had hair stuck to their sweat covered faces. The first day of summer vacation always felt the warmest. It carried with it promises of the fun the three of them would have the rest of the summer.

When they heard Rae getting close they came out of the alley and waited for her. When she was in sight they began again this time walking. They were headed one more street up to the last ice-cream vendor in town.

When Rae caught up to them she was huffing and puffing loudly trying to catch her breath. Her entire head of brown hair was glued to her.

"You almost caught us that time. You keep getting faster and faster." Lea said to her as the three of them walked up to the vendor's cart.

"One day I'm going to out run you guys!" she said still breathing heavy but not like she first had been.

"Not if we keep getting faster too" Isa said with a laugh.

Rae having no comeback stuck her tongue out at him and made a face that had all three of them and the ice-cream vendor laughing.

Isa paid for the ice cream and the three walked on to their usual spot.

Their spot was just passed the edge of town. No one really came out that far because there was nothing to see just fields of wild flowers that stretched on as far as the eye could see. Most children weren't allowed that far by their parents because the fields were also lined with cliffs that dropped off into nothingness. They didn't have to worry about parents though they didn't have any. Well, not any more. They lived in the orphanage in the heart of Radiant Garden. Each had their own reasons for ending up there never really discussing it with the others. They were more focused on the days ahead, days filled with laughter, ice cream, and friendship.

The three of them sat on the edge of one of the cliffs eating their ice-cream watching the sun set.

"Hey, I bet you guys don't know why the sun sets red." Lea said finishing the last of his ice-cream just before it started to drip all over himself.

" The sunset is made up of many colors but red is the color that travels the farthest." He said.

"You're such a know it all" Isa said hitting the side of his arm. "I bet you just made that up because it's your favorite color."

All three of them laughed.

"Anyone have a stick that says winner on it?" Rae asked as she looked at her own.

"Nope." Lea said.

"I don't think it exists." Isa said throwing his stick off the cliff.

They stayed until the last ray of light faded away.


	2. Chapter 2

The three of them spent every day that summer together. But, today was it the last day of their vacation. They all sat on the cliff of their usual spot enjoying their last Sea Salt Ice-cream of the year as they watched their last summer sunset.

There was a warm breeze and somber sense of serenity in the air. They knew that after tonight they would be seeing each other a lot less, school was starting tomorrow.

"I wish tonight's sunset could last forever." Rae said looking out over the cliff with a smile on her face. Her hair blew around her and she raised her hands to push it back. A few seconds later her hair was in her face again, she left it this time closing her eyes and just enjoying the moment.

"Yeah, I don't want to go back to school" Lea said as he flopped onto his back. The grass was cold against his arms and neck. He leaned his arms back to prop up his head looking up to see the sun begin to set.

Isa nodded in agreement.

"Next summer we have to go back to the fountains!" Lea exclaimed.

The other two agreed.

They had almost gotten into a lot of trouble at the fountains but they all agreed it was worth it. Isa was always so level headed or boring as Lea put it but that day he proved them wrong.

Isa was the first to figure out you could use the fountains at just the right time to propel yourself to the higher ledges. They had so much fun that day jumping from ledge to ledge splashing each other, at least until the castle guards showed up.

"Hey you kids get down from there!" Isa said in a mimicking tone.

Rae and Lea burst out laughing at his impression. They laughed so hard Isa couldn't hold back his own laughter and he broke character and joined in their laughter.

"Good thing we were faster than those guards" Rae said.

"Its all that practice racing here to watch the sunset." Lea replied.

"You guys are lucky you get to go to school together" Rae said with a sigh as she looked out at the sunset.

"We still have the weekends after we finish our school work." Isa said trying to cheer her up.

The last of the sun's light had just disappeared as the three of them stood up to go home. They walked slowly through the field of wild flowers and back into town. They walked through the town that just a few days ago was teeming with people and now looked so empty. Most everyone had returned home early to prepare for the morning when they would return to school or work and time for play was over. They had turned off most of the fountains in the city the day before.

As they reached the orphanage that they all called home they stopped just outside.

"lets meet every weekend and tell each other all about our weeks. It's okay that things are changing and we wont be able to meet up every day. As long as we keep each other in our thoughts we wont ever really be apart. Got it memorized?" Lea said to his two friends.

They all agreed and started up the stairs to go inside. Rae headed off to the girls wing and the boys went the opposite direction towards the room they shared.

They met every weekend at their usual spot to share about their week with each other.

At school Rae had people she would sit with but they weren't her friends the way Isa and Lea were. She knew she could count on those two for anything. They were the first people she met after she came to the orphanage. Too bad they were two years older than her and attended a different school but at least she saw them every weekend.

* * *

The months went on the same way. They would go to school and meet on the weekends to catch up. Then summer came and they spent every day together. The years repeated this cycle.

Their friendship grew stronger each day but something more grew. A spark began to grow with Lea and Rae and Isa was the first to see it. And Isa was happy to see the spark between his friends.

There was no jealously among the friends. Isa saw something in the two of them the day they met it was only now he realized what it was. He watched as the two of his friends wrestled with their feelings not yet able to put them to words. He made an effort to let them sit together and to show up just a bit later to their meeting spot.

Isa did not have a strong desire to be loved like his best friend Lea. Isa was interested in knowledge. He was filled with a hunger to understand and to learn.


	3. Chapter 3

"Isa, can I get your advice about something?" lea asked rather awkwardly.

"Sure." The blue haired boy responded handing his friend a hammer.

They were working together to build a bookshelf and the task was proving quite miserable but both boys were determined. They had collected scraps of wood they found behind shops and were now recklessly hammering them together in the hopes of building a bookshelf.

"So what do you think about Rae?" Lea asked.

"You want my advice on what I think about Rae?" Isa responded with sarcasm.

"No, I just want to know what you think about her."

"I think she's one of my best friends but the real question is what do you think of her, Lea?"

"Why do I get the feeling you know where this is going and you're trying to make it as painful as possible for me?"

"Because it's fun." Isa responded nonchalantly as he took the hammer from Lea and knelt on the ground trying to combine the boards to form a base for the shelf.

"Wait, you know I like Rae?" Lea asked completely caught off guard.

"Mmhhhmm" Isa mumbled holding two nails between his lips as he steadied a third nail under his hammer.

"How did you know?" Lea asked urgently completely abandoning the task of the bookshelf.

Isa stood up from the floor to meet Lea's gaze and placed the hammer and nails on the woodpile. "Because neither one of you is good about hiding your feelings. You two are real lead with your heart kind of people and part of that is practically broadcasting your feelings. That and you talk in your sleep" Isa responded still with his nonchalant tone.

"Wha- I do not talk in my sleep!" Lea said in an exaggeratedly offended tone.

"How would you know? You're asleep when you do it." Isa said this time with a laugh.

"Good point." Lea said sitting on the ground and resuming building the bookshelf. He hammered one more nail in and stopped.

"What did you mean by both of us aren't good at hiding our feelings?" Lea asked again finally realizing what Isa had said.

Isa smiled. Sometimes his friend could be so slow he thought to himself. "Rae likes you too you idiot!"

"She does?" Lea exclaimed more than asked. A huge grin spread on his face.

"Yeah, now are you going to help me finish this bookshelf or not? I'm tired of having all of my books stacked in the corner and you constantly nocking them over."

Lea nodded his head and began working on the bookshelf once more.

* * *

The boys had finally finished the shelf and it surprisingly held under the weight of Isa's book collection. They positioned it in the far corner of the room at Isa's insistence. He reasoned that the farther they were from Lea's side of the room the safer the books would be.

Lea's carefree personality had its downfalls and one of them was how reckless he was. The redhead was firey and impulsive which made him an extremely loyal friend but also created messes that Isa constantly found himself cleaning up. Though Isa often times feigned annoyance with his friend he wouldn't trade him for the world.

It was late and his friend had fallen asleep hours ago but Isa couldn't sleep. He sat up in his bed and looked out the window. There was a full moon out and the light it reflected filled the room. Isa stared at the moon for a long time before he pushed the covers aside and crawled out of bed. He made his way across the room and found his shoes and jacket. He put them on quickly and walked towards the door of the room. He placed his hand on the doorknob and began to turn it when he heard Lea stir in his bed. Isa froze. His friend rolled over and resumed his rhythmic breathing. Isa twisted the doorknob and opened the door. As he walked through the door he looked over at his friend once more to make sure he was really asleep.

"Isa said…Heart….Rea…Ice-cream…"

Isa smiled, there was Lea talking in his sleep again.

He continued through the door closing it softly behind him. He walked through the boys wing of the orphanage until he made it to the front door. There was a curfew for all the children in the orphanage but those in charge had always turned a blind eye when Isa left for a late night walk. Besides Rae and Lea, Isa kept to himself. He was always respectful of the staff and never caused problems he figured being allowed his night walks was his reward.

He walked outside and took in his surroundings. The streets were empty, he expected as much it had to have been past midnight. The night was quiet and there was a slight breeze. He felt the extra fabric of his grey pajama pants move in the breeze. He took a few steps forward into the street and looked up. The moon was large in the sky but the surrounding buildings obstructed his view. Isa began walking down the street towards the castle courtyard where the view was best.

Isa sat on a bench in the courtyard and retreated into his thoughts. Tomorrow was the start of summer but it was also the start of a lot of changes for both him and Lea. They had finished their last year of classes and at the end of summer they would have to leave the orphanage. There were so many things to prepare. They needed a place to live, a job to pay for the place, and most of all they needed to grow up. Eating ice-cream every day and watching the sunset was fun but he knew they couldn't do it forever.

The boy let out a sigh. "Why do I always have to worry about everything?" he said to himself as he leaned on the stone wall behind him. Lea couldn't be bothered to worry about what they were going to do at the end of the summer he was too focused on the now, or rather tomorrow.

Last weekend when the three friends had met at their usual spot Rae had told them she wouldn't be spending the first day of summer with them. She had been invited to a party with some of her other friends from school. The boys had been a bit disappointed but understood.

* * *

"We can still meet after and watch the sunset. Just because I'm going to the party doesn't mean I'll miss the first Sea Salt Ice-cream of the summer with you guys. " Rae said with a smile sitting down between Isa and Lea on the cliffs edge.

"We have some pretty big plans of our own we've been working on" Lea said with a sly grin as he turned to look at Rae.

"Big plans?" Rae asked turning her head to the side.

"Lea, wants to pull one last big prank before we have to start acting like adults and get a job" Isa explained.

"It's going to be the best prank ever!" Lea exclaimed raising his hands in the air.

"And what is this prank you guys have planned?" Rae asked laughing.

"You'll know it when you see it." Lea responded pointing at his eyes.

"It has to do with the castle." The blue haired boy said looking forward at the sunset.

"Isa!" Lea yelled.

"Relax, that's all I'm saying."

* * *

Isa stood and looked up at the castle. The moon bathed the castle in a yellow light that made it stand out from the other buildings.

"Tomorrow" he whispered to himself as he walked back to his room.


	4. Chapter 4

Lea was up early that morning he had so much to be excited for. He was going to talk to Rae and find out if Isa was right and he and Isa also had their big prank to pull off. They had been planning it for weeks ever since Lea had come up with the idea.

Lea knew he owed it to Isa to do something to get his mind off what would happen when summer was over.

Isa may think I don't care about the future and maybe he's right but, I do care about my friends. And because of that I know things have to change. Isa needs me to step up more he can't do all the worrying for the both of us all the time he thought to himself as he pushed his sheets off and got out of bed.

Lea stood and stretched shaking the sleep from his body. He looked over at Isa sound asleep. He could never understand how Isa could sleep in so late. They went to bed at the same time but Isa always slept later.

"That's going to have to change if he wants a job" he whispered to himself.

The redhead walked over to his dresser and pulled out clothes for the day, grabbed his toothbrush out of his top drawer and headed down the hallway of the orphanage to the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

Rae was standing in front of her dresser staring at the two drawers she had pulled open.

"What's with you this morning? You usually spend thirty seconds picking what you're going to wear" Called a voice behind her.

"Huh?" Rae responded looking back at her roommate.

"It's not like you is all. You've been standing just staring at your dresser for like five minutes."

"Oh yeah, I just can't decided what to wear today." Rae said coming back to herself after being lost in her own thoughts.

"What's the special occasion? Wait I know! You want to impress Emyd at the party today. You like him don't you?"

"Well yeah, Yara, but so does half the school" Rae said with a laugh.

"In that case you need to borrow my red sundress that will really make him notice you! Not that you have to worry about that I mean he personally invited you to his party. I'd say he's already noticed you." Yara said as she started digging in the closet for the dress.

"Are you sure?" Rae asked timidly.

"Yeah! It will look great on you. Plus, I'm not going to waste much time in making myself noticeable I have Rex wrapped around my finger. At least one of us should use the dress." Yara said as she grabbed the dress and tried to free it from the overstuffed closet. After a moment she finally freed the dress and handed it to Rae.

"Thanks Yara." Rae said as she hurried into the dress.

Yara had a job at the local dress boutique so she was always up to date on the latest trends.

* * *

Rae was sitting at a small metal table in the corner of the cafeteria with her cup of coffee. She looked up at the wall in front of her. There hung a large portrait of a man staring back at her. Portraits of him were hung all over the orphanage. He was Ansem the Wise, the leader of Radiant Garden.

Ansem had built the orphanage many years ago. He made sure each child was cared for the way parents would. No child ever had a need that wasn't met. Ansem had no children of his own but instead treated all of the children of Radiant Garden as if they were his. His generosity was something of a legend.

What a kind man she thought to herself as she took her first sip of her coffee. She instantly recoiled from how hot the coffee was.

"You do that every time." Lea said walking up behind her. He took a seat across from her and set his cup down on the table.

"I guess I do" she said smiling at him.

She took the lid off the paper cup and blew over the top to cool it down. Lea drank his coffee in three gulps and set the cup aside.

"I never understand how you can drink your coffee when it's that hot." She said holding her cup with both hands as she tentatively took another sip.

Lea smiled at her and leaned back in his chair. "Nice dress, almost didn't recognize you in it."

"Thanks, I borrowed it from Yara for the party." She said blushing into her coffee as she took another sip.

"I hope you have a good time" Lea said leaning forward on the table his elbows looking down to hide his disappointment.

"Thanks."

"Hey Rae, I wanted to talk to you about something." Lea said squirming in his chair still looking down.

"What is it Lea?" There was a long pause. "Is everything okay?" she asked reaching out with her hand to touch his across the table.

"Yeah…I-I just-" Lea could feel himself start to blush. He willed himself to regain his composure. Guess this is what Isa meant when he said I broadcast my emotions Lea thought to himself as he became more self-aware of how he was around Rae.

"Hey Rae you ready? Lets go!" Yara yelled across the cafeteria.

"I'll be right there!" Rae called back.

"Hey Lea can we finish talking tonight when we watch the sunset? I really need to get going." Rae asked him already rising from her chair.

"Yeah, sure! See you tonight." He said as he leaned back in his chair placing his hands behind his head and flashing her a smile.

* * *

Lea sat at the metal table staring at the empty chair in front of him. He had woken up early to try and talk to Rae and here he was alone. It was too early for Isa to be up and he had nothing better to do so he stayed. He stayed sitting alone.

If I had just not fumbled with my words maybe I could have said something worth saying before she left. This is all Isa's fault! Why did he have to go and tell me Rae liked me too? Just yesterday things were perfectly fine, I could talk to Rae about anything now I five words and my heart is ready to jump out of my throat and land on the table. Lea exhaled releasing some of the tension he had subconsciously built up trying to talk to Rae. Now Rae is off to Emyd's party he thought to himself.

Lea thought back to the week before when Rae had first told him and Isa she was going to the party. He was so disappointed and wanted to ask her not to go.

He began to daydream.


	5. Chapter 5

I wonder what was up with Lea this morning? He was acting kind of strange, almost like he didn't want to tell me something. Was this the kind of changes Isa had been talking about? He said things would change when they had to get jobs and leave the orphanage at the end of summer, but I didn't think he meant things would change with us Rae thought to herself as she walked towards the back of the group of girls on their way to the party.

* * *

"The courtyard is empty. Now is as good of a time as ever if we want to pull this thing off" Lea said looking at Isa.

"Alright" Isa responded with a nod.

The boys walked around the outer ledge of the courtyard and down the ramp to cut across the center. With a hollow thud a wooden sword hit the floor in front of them. Isa kept walking the last thing he wanted to do was stop and have someone question what they were doing.

"This yours?" Lea asked picking up the wooden toy and examining it.

He was talking to a young blond haired boy sitting against the wall in the lower part of the courtyard. Neither Isa or Lea had noticed the blonde when they decided to cut across to the other side. The blonde haired boy was dressed strangely and looked out of place. He sat with his head down.

Isa looked back at his friend who had stopped.

"Lea, we don't have time for this." He said a bit aggressively obviously annoyed.

"Lighten up, Isa. It will only take a second." Lea responded waving the wooden sword around. He walked towards the strange boy extending the handle towards him to him to grab.

"You still play with toy swords? That's cute." Lea said without waiting for the boy to grab it and tossing the toy sword to the side. "Now this right here" Lea exclaimed as he reached for something in his pants pockets. "Tada! Whaddya think?" the redhead said with a proud smile as he produced two Frisbees.

Here he goes again Isa thought to himself exhaling loudly. Always showing off.

"Not a whole lot" The blonde boy replied not looking up at Lea.

A smile spread to Isa's lips.

"You're just jealous! I'm Lea. Got it memorized?" the boy with the Frisbees asked pointing his index finger at the side of head. "What's your name?"

"Ventus" the blonde stranger responded dismissively.

"Okay, Ventus, lets fight!" Lea said with enthusiasm not picking up on Ventus' annoyance.

"Why would I want to do that?" Ventus asked in a condescending tone this time looking at Lea.

"You're not scared of losing are you?" Lea asked jumping backwards toward the center of the courtyard.

Ventus' blue eyes lit up and he let out a confident laugh as he moved to stand up.

"You're going to be sorry!" he said making his way towards Lea.

Isa could tell this was going to take a while so he continued across the courtyard where the pair was originally headed and sat down on a bench on the upper ledge. There was no sense in standing in the sun to watch Lea make a fool of himself. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the stone wall behind him.

It wasn't long before Isa opened his eyes again and saw Lea on the ground.

"Had enough? I'm… willing to call…. it a draw ….if you are." Lea said between breaths looking up at Ventus.

Ventus looked down at the redhead and let out a light hearted laugh.

"From where I sat the only thing you drew was a big L on your forehead for Loser." The blue haired boy said as he approached.

"Some friend you are. Aren't you supposed to cheer me up or something. You're having a bad day or you'll get him next time?" Lea said with mock hurt feelings as he still sat on the ground.

"That would be a lie." Isa said with his cold wit.

"See what I have to put up with? Sure hope you don't have friends like him" Lea said with a smile as he leaned back to lay on the ground propping his head up on his hands.

The three boys laughed.

"Lea, we really should get going." Isa said seriously.

"Kay" Lea said still not making an effort to stand up.

"Already?" Ventus asked with a hint to disappointment.

"I'll see you around some time we are friends after all." Lea said as he followed after Isa. He turned to look over his shoulder and added, "Get it memorized."

"Okay, Lea." Ventus said with a smile.

"What is it with you and everyone you meet?" Isa said not hiding his annoyance.

"I just want everyone to remember me" Lea said picking up on Isa's annoyance for the first time that day. "Inside people's memories I can live forever."

"I know I won't ever forget you. Believe me I've tried. " Isa responded humorously trying to lighten the mood realizing he had hurt his friend's feelings.

"See, I'm immortal." Lea said with a smile returning to his face.

"I'd call it obnoxious." Isa said as he looked up to the castle.

"You ready?" The redhead said following his friend's gaze up at the castle tower they were headed to.

Isa looked back at his friend. I hope he enjoys this last prank he thought to himself. After a moment he responded. "I can tell you are."

"Yeah!" Lea said in child like anticipation as he still looked on at the castle.


	6. Chapter 6

It was just a bit before sunset and Lea and Isa were standing on the end of the cliff of their usual spot. A warm breeze worked its way through the field of wildflowers making it look like the whole thing was on fire.

Lea could feel nervous energy building inside him. His movements were shaky and he started pacing. His heart started to beat faster.

"Relax. I already told you she likes you back." Isa said trying to comfort his friend. Lea gave him a nervous smile in response.

"She should be here soon. I'll go and get the ice-cream and you wait here for her." Isa said to Lea staring directly into his eyes placing a hand on his shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

With that Isa left and Lea was alone. He was hopeful it was all going to work out but he couldn't help but feel anxious. He and Rae had been friends for a long time, not as long as he and Isa but long enough to develop just as strong of a connection with her and he didn't want to loose that.

He tried to recall the defining moment when he felt his friendship for her turn to more than that. He couldn't quite pin it down. She was always laughing at his jokes even when he knew they were awful. She was so sweet and positive. When she was happy he was happy and when she hurt he hurt. "I guess a part of me has always loved her" he said to himself.

"Loved who?" Rae said from behind him. Her voice sent a jolt through his entire body and he felt like he was going to be sick right then and there. He turned to face her. He wanted to tell her she was the one he loved but his voice caught in his throat.

She took a step closer and he felt the heat rise to his face. Rae smiled up at the redhead. "Well, tell me who it is you're in love with" she asked. She could see Lea's face begin to match his hair that's when she took a step back.

"That's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She said staring at him for a moment longer.

Rae walked passed her friend and sat down on the cliffs edge. " I passed Isa on the way out here. He said he was getting the ice cream. I asked if he wanted help but he said that he would be fine and that you had something you wanted to talk to me about." She said looking out as the sunset was about to start.

Lea still unable to speak watched her long brown hair move in the warm air. Why did Isa have to tell her that? He thought to himself as he sat beside her. He was aware that he had sat with an awkwardly large distance between them.

"I guess you want girl advice. Otherwise you would just ask Isa." She said turning her head to look at him. Lea didn't turn to meet her gaze instead he kept looking ahead. "It's going to be hard without you telling me who she is but I can try."

"First you have to let her know how you feel. Tell her or do something that shows her you care. I know you're not good at that kind of stuff but you cant keep hiding behind your jokes. Girls like it when you make the first move." Both Rae and Lea were looking down now. Lea slid closer to her closing the gap between them. He looked at her for the first time and she met his look.

Lea leaned in closer and she followed. He could feel her breath against his face. He studied her face. Finally and slowly his lips met hers. She didn't pull away.

He felt all of his anxiety melt away in their kiss. His anxiety was replaced with pure joy. It was like her lips had given his entire body a shock of electricity.

NO! It really was electricity he was feeling. He heard a scream off in the distance getting louder. An otherworldly force was pulling the two of them apart now. He watched as Rae moved farther and farther away from him. He was reaching out to her as hard as he could but she just kept drifting away. The cliff vanished before his eyes and the field of wildflowers that had once looked like flames had turned to real flames. Everything was on fire. Everything was red. He felt an intense heat then pain. He realized the screams were coming from him. He opened his eyes.

He saw Isa passed out on the floor next to him. Lea's throat was raw from his screams. It was all coming back. The boys had tried to sneak into the castle to pull off their prank but they got caught. They had decided to wait until an hour before sunset but it did them no good. The two guards in the front had caught them almost immediately. Lea being the people person he was had tried talking their way out of trouble but the guards were having none of it. They picked up the boys by the back of their shirts and tossed them out of the castle letting them land roughly on the stone street. Lea remembered helping his friend up.

"Thanks" Isa said taking Lea's hand and rising.

"Guess we're just going to have to find another way in" Lea said with a big smile.

"No thanks, I'm not getting thrown out on my butt like that again." Isa said.

Just then a white haired man emerged from the castle.

"What happened?" the man asked in a deep voice. "Bring those boys here" he said not waiting for an explanation.

Isa and Lea shared a look of fear. They turned to run but were too slow. They were taken inside.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the white haired man had taken them. They didn't know where but they knew they were inside the castle. They were constantly surrounded by men in lab coats all of them going on about researching the heart. Isa and Lea were the research.

At first it was emotionally exploratory but as the men in lab coats' research progressed so did their urgency and with their urgency came the harsher, unstable, and physically painful tests.

Lea felt himself slipping away. That was when he had invented his game, his own way of retaining some sense of himself and his sanity during this research. Each time they performed a test on him he would retreat into his mind and create a safe space. He would imagine what each day with his friends would be like if they had never gone to the castle. There were days where he would relive their favorite adventures. And when the pain became almost unbearable he would imagine being with Rae. Lots of laughter, ice cream, and friendship that's what kept him going.

The worst was when they would do their tests on Isa and he was made to watch. Tears would flood his eyes as he watched his friend scream.

The two friends helped each other survive with the promise that one day they would get their revenge.


	7. Chapter 7

It was the first day of summer and even though it was getting late the streets were still filled with people. There were friends walking in groups, vendors pushing their carts, and music in the air. It would be a long walk from Emyd's party to the cliffs but Rae didn't mind. A part of her was glad to be gone from the party; it had been a romanticized idea in her head one that didn't meet her expectations. Rae liked her friends from school but she felt most comfortable with Lea and Isa they were like her family. She decided she much preferred their Sea Salt Ice-cream sunsets to parties.

When she had first told Isa and Lea she was going to the party instead of spending the day with them part of her had hoped they would have any other reaction than acceptance. She wanted to hear them ask her not to go, but they didn't. I guess that's what makes them good friends she surmised as she continued walking through the streets making her way to the cliff lined fields.

She walked past restaurant patios with people dining outside; most places had turned on their outdoor lights in preparation for the evening. As Rae walked she couldn't help but smile when she passed the fountains. Each of their summers were marked with one or two stand out adventures and the day they played on the ledges of the fountain would always be a favorite memory of hers. They were so young then. As Rae walked she passed seven years of memories.

She looked up at the castle; it wasn't too much further up the street. I wonder what their big prank was? She thought.

Rae walked into the castle courtyard and found a bench on the upper ledge. As she sat looking up trying to figure out what was different she listened to the small fountains surrounding the area. She stayed for a long time unable to find anything. The castle was in the center of the town and the buildings that surrounded blocked most of the wind making her all the more aware of how hot a day it was.

Rae knew she needed to be on her way if she was going to make it in time to watch the sunset. Poor Lea, he was so excited about their prank and she was going to have to disappoint him by telling him she had no idea what it was. She raised her hands running them through her hair. Her curls had lost their bounce and her hair was beginning to stick to the back of her neck. She secured her long brown hair with the tie she had on her wrist before standing and starting again for the cliffs.

She walked with a renewed purpose excited to see her friends. She promised herself she would never miss the first day of summer with them again. As Rae walked she allowed her mind to wander to dream of the adventures they would have that summer. She dreamed of sand and sea breezes. The beach, she would make sure they all went to the beach she decided.

When Rae reached the last ice-cream vendor before the cliffs she paused and looked for Isa and Lea. They must be waiting in the field she thought continuing on. When she made it to their spot she was a bit surprised to find it empty except for the wildflowers moving in the wind. She sat and waited for her friends this wasn't the latest they had been but they were cutting it close. Rae looked out ahead of her judging it would only be ten minutes before the sun began to set.

It was exceptionally dark and cold as Rae rose from the grass; she was alone. An uneasy feeling settled inside of her as she walked home. She was aware of how quiet her surroundings were and she didn't like it. Her two friends had not come to watch the sunset with her.

The entire walk back was a blur Rae was all but consumed by her thoughts as she wove her way through the streets. Why didn't Isa and Lea come to watch the sunset? Maybe they were mad she had gone to the party. She hadn't thought them upset or that petty but it would at least explain why they hadn't shown up. Maybe that's what Lea was trying to tell her this morning. I bet Isa is the one that's upset with me he's always one for following rules and traditions and he probably felt like she was breaking their tradition. Rae had never upset Isa before at least not really they had had their squabbles but nothing of this nature. That's why Lea was struggling to find the words he was always the one championing friendship and to see Isa mad at her was probably upsetting him. She would make things right in the morning she decided as she walked into her shared room.


	8. Chapter 8

Two weeks, that's how long Isa and Lea had been gone. Rae had tried to find them the day after the party to apologize to Isa but they were nowhere to be found. She asked but no one had seen them.

Rae couldn't believe they would have just left without telling her what they were doing or where they were going. They hadn't even taken any of their things with them. Most of the staff figured they had begun their lives outside of the orphanage early and paid no mind to their disappearance. It wasn't unheard of for children to up and leave a few weeks or months early if they had found work.

It was midday and most of the orphanages inhabitants had long since left to start their day but not Rae. Every summer the trio were up early and beginning their adventures but without the boys she had nothing to get up early for. She found herself roaming the halls in search of something to do. When she looked up she was standing in front of Isa and Lea's room. The door was open and there were people inside. Rae poked her head in hoping to see the boys with bright colored hair but it was just three of the staff members.

"What's going on?" Rae asked.

The three adults paused.

"We're cleaning up in here, getting all the junk out to make room for new kids." One of the men answered back.

Rae watched as the staff member that had answered her knelt in front of a bookshelf in the far corner of the room and began removing books throwing them in the center of the room. Rae walked closer to the pile of books. Isa loved his books he would be livid if he saw them being treated like that she thought to herself.

She picked up the book at her feet titled "Angels Wings", It was Isa's favorite. He had lent it to Rae not that long ago. Much to his annoyance she had a habit of reading the last chapter of every book before reading the story all the way through and when she did that with this book she was so upset. It was supposed to be a love story but it had the worst ending.

* * *

"Isa! How could you think that book was so good? Shad and Erin don't even end up together. I thought you said it was a love story" Rae said completely flustered waving the book at her friend.

"You weren't supposed to read the end first that ruins the story." Isa exclaimed grabbing the book from her. "I said most people think it's a love story" he corrected as he held the book close.

"Well if it's not a love story then what is it? She asked regaining some of her composure.

"It's a story about Erin getting the greatest desire of her heart."

"How can that be? She doesn't end up with Shad." Rae asked puzzled.

Isa gave her a kind smile.

* * *

"Are you even listening?"

"Huh?" Rae asked as she realized she was still holding the book.

"I said, you really need to get going. You shouldn't be in the boy's wing" the staff member repeated to her.

"Right, sorry. " She said as she turned and walked out of the room book in hand.

* * *

That evening Rae left the orphanage to watch the sunset. The first week without the boys she had watched the sun set from her bedroom window. This week however, she decided she would keep up the tradition in the hopes that her friends would show up. As she walked down the steps of the orphanage she looked to her left and saw Isa and Lea's remaining belongings in the dumpster; their broken bookshelf sitting on top.

She sat at their usual spot on the edge of the cliff-lined fields watching the sunset. She brought the book with her though she wasn't sure why. When it was dark and the first stars were visible she left always alone


	9. Chapter 9

Lea slowly blinked his eyes open as his vision began to focus. He was in his cell, alone. It was dark, he assumed they were somewhere under the castle. Weren't dungeons always under castles? He heard was aware of a soft pounding sound in the distance.

"Isa? Are you there" He called out into the darkness.

The men in white coats had taken Isa three days earlier. They had never taken either of the boys that long and Lea's thoughts had taken him to imagine the worst. The pain he endured during the experiments performed on them was nothing compared to the agony he experienced the three days his friend was gone. Lea had been caught in circular thinking hoping for the best for his friend. He would go from being certain Isa was strong enough to hold up, to fearing he would never see his friend again.

"Yes." The blue haired boy responded stoically.

The pounding continued.

"How many?" Lea asked.

"Forty-four."

Isa had insisted on scratching out tally marks for how many days they had been there on his cell wall. Today was forty-four days. The Pounding that Lea heard was a distorted echo of Isa's tally marks made with a small stone.

Isa sat on the floor of his cell staring up at the three new lines he had scratched into his wall. How many more marks would he make before they finally killed him?

The cell was windowless and dark. Isa sat leaning on the cold stone wall behind him.

"Isa, are you alright?" The question cut through the silence.

"Yes."

"I'm so s-" Lea began but was immediately cut off by Isa.

"Don't." came Isa's cold reply.

Lea had apologized more times than Isa could remember. Isa knew the situation they found themselves in wasn't his fault and he was tired of hearing his friend apologize. He knew Lea felt guilty but he lacked the words to tell his friend he didn't blame him. Feeling sorry wouldn't change things.

They sat in silence for a long time.

Despite what they had been through, despite what they were going through, they never discussed the research that was done on them.

"Lea?" Isa called out to his best friend.

"Yeah?"

"I'm the one that needs to be sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." Isa said with remorse.

"It's okay. We have both been through a lot." Lea said with an exhausted understanding.

"I don't know if it's what they have done to us or I'm giving up, but I feel like I'm loosing myself." Isa said, his voice breaking as he struggled to choke back tears.

Until this point Lea had been the only one to shed tears over their predicament.

"We are going to get out of here, Isa. Stay strong and don't let them break you. When they hurt you just think about something, anything else." Lea called back to his friend feeling helpless to comfort him.

They talked the rest of the night giving breath to their fantasies of revenge and their dreams to be free of their torture.

When Lea finally fell asleep Isa allowed his mind to try and understand what had been done to him.

He had been forced to come face to face with a living shadow. It was a creature like that of a young child's nightmare but there was no one there to turn on the lights or to explain away the make believe monsters, this was real. It was darkness it's self, of that he was sure. The men in white coats had called it a Heartless.

The creature had attacked him with an intensity he had never experienced before. Xehanort said it was looking to devour his heart.

Isa raised a hand to his chest and let it rest above his heart. He could feel his heartbeat in his chest, he was undecided if that was a good thing.

* * *

"When are you going to abandon that silly task of scratching lines in the walls?" Evan asked the blue haired boy sitting in the cell in front of him.

Evan was dressed in his long white research coat looking down at Isa.

Isa turned his head over his shoulder to look at the self-proclaimed heart scientist for a moment before ignoring the man and returning to his scratching on the wall.

"Three hundred and seventy-two" Isa whispered to himself.

"Evan, I would think you would be flattered with us keeping record of each day we get to see you." Lea called out from his cell with an empty sarcasm.

"My the two of you have changed since we first started our research." Evan said with a scowl as he left stomping away.

It was true, they were so different from who they were a year ago. Lea had developed a new personality. He was stoic and sarcastic and not in an endearing way as he had been. Gone was his firey curiosity, gone was his optimism, but saddest of all gone was his joy. In order to survive the old Lea needed to only exist in his daydreams. The old Lea was too weak to handle the research. This new Lea, he was cold enough to survive.

Isa had retreated into himself almost entirely. He was no longer his sarcastic self instead he was replaced with a cold seriousness. He now possessed a singular desire for revenge.


	10. Chapter 10

**_+++++ Please bear with me on this chapter. I have my story roughly mapped out and I wanted to do a chapter about Isa coping with their predicament like I had with Lea but I didn't like the way it came out so I wrote this instead. This will hopefully be the closest to a "filler" chapter I write. I struggled with this chapter because I wanted to shy away from being dark. But to make up for it I have uploaded four chapters at once. +++++_**

* * *

 _"Stay strong and don't let them break you. When they hurt you just think about something, anything else…"_

Lea's words echoed in his mind as the blue haired boy found himself face to face with another heartless. This one was larger than the last.

He felt an icy cold as the creature clawed at him. Isa retreated into his mind trying to focus on anything else. He thought about his favorite book, "Angel's Wings". He forced himself to recall chapter-by-chapter imagining the words on the pages he had memorized.

It was the first book in a series but Isa didn't care for the series the book by it's self had stood out to him. The story was about an angel, Erin, who wanted so desperately to understand what it was like to be human.

* * *

Erin spent her days watching from Heaven as humans conducted their lives. It was hard for her to imagine much about them beyond what she glimpsed from her perch high above. When she could take the curiosity no longer she begged God to clip her wings and allow her to experience the world he created. He agrees telling her she must lead a pure life on earth in order to return to heaven when her mortal life ends.

God puts Erin into a deep sleep and clips her wings and places her in a field on earth. When she awakes her memories of Heaven slowly begin to slip away. She forgets she's an angel but remembers that she must always keep her heart pure.

One day Erin meets a man, Shad, who she is immediately drawn to. They begin a love affair that would rival that of any other story written, but like everything good it does not last. Shad's heart is not pure and it causes turmoil between the two.

Erin knows that she must make a choice; either keep her heart pure or be with Shad but she could not have both.

She decides love is a far better option and runs to find Shad and reconcile.

Shad on the other hand finds himself thinking about Erin as he rides in a van with three other men. Their mission is to rob a bank. Shad decides this would be his last impure act before he returns to her deciding a simple life with her is more precious than all the riches in the world.

The bank robbery does not go as planned. Erin receives a knock at the door and opens it to find a police man in uniform. No words are spoken, none need to be, Erin collapses to the ground knowing she has lost Shad forever.

As Shad lies in a pool of his own blood on the bank floor he feels a bright white light come over him. He doesn't feel the pain of the gunshot wound; instead he sees Erin's face just before he fades away entirely.

Erin unable to cope with the loss of Shad refuses to eat or drink until she withers away. She closes her eyes for the last time passing on with a smile as images of Shad's face come to mind.

When she awakes she finds herself in Heaven standing before God. He tells Erin that though she would have made a choice that would have darkened her heart he chose to take Shad away from her to keep her heart pure so she could return. Heartbroken she asks what happened to Shad.

God tells her he is not in heaven before leaving her alone to process everything.

Erin disobeys the rules of Heaven and goes to Hell in search of her love. As she wanders the red wasteland four men all of who are resigned to Hell attack her. Her attackers are fought off by a dark hooded figure. Once the hooded man and Erin are alone he reveals himself to be her Shad. The two embrace.

The two make a camp in the woods and fall asleep in each others arms. Erin wakes in the middle of the night to watch Shad sleep. She knows that their reunion is temporary. She knows that Shad's heart if full of too much light regardless of his actions when he was on earth; Hell will destroy him.

She takes a knife from Shad's sleeping body and she carefully cuts her angel wings off. She muffles her sounds of pain knowing she can't draw unwanted attention. The potion that she slipped in Shad's drink has worked and he is in a deep sleep. She takes her bloodied wings and sows them onto Shad's back before hiding in the shadows.

When Shad awakes he finds wings sown onto his back and his love hiding in the shadows. Before either can speak the men from the night before surround them. Erin screams at Shad to leave and fly to heaven. Shad does as she says and she is left alone with the attackers. As the men take her captive Erin cannot hide her smile. The greatest desire of her heart has been granted to her knowing Shad is safe.

* * *

Isa blinked and found himself in his cell again. It had worked. Focusing on something else had allowed him to escape the mental torture. He still had the gashes on his arm from the heartless clawing at him but that was nothing compared to the fear he had experienced when he first met the creature of darkness.

That was how Isa would survive. He need only imagine stories from his books and he could escape the walls of his cell; at least for a little while.


	11. Chapter 11

"Anyone else want one?" Rae called back to her group of friends as she walked towards the Sea salt Ice cream vendor in the courtyard.

"Nah we are good" Responded the tall blonde boy.

It had been almost a year since she had had one. Today was the start of summer before her last year of classes and the second summer without Isa and Lea. She missed them but she had moved on for the most part. It hurt her deeper than she was willing to admit that they had just left her behind but She spent two whole months looking for them asking everyone she met but no one had seen them. She was sure they were gone for good.

Rae tried to keep the tradition of sunsets and icecream alive hoping that they would come but they never did. At first she was insistent on going every day but as she moved on with her life her visits to the fields had grown farther and farther apart until she stopped going all together.

Rae paid the vendor and made her way back to the group.

"I can't believe you actually like that flavor" The blonde boy said with a judgmental tone as he slipped his arm around her.

Rae gave him a slight side eye no one else saw and ignored his judgments. After a few seconds she leaned into his side knowing it would do no good to be mad at him, Emyd had always been disapproving of anything he didn't like.

"Let's go, we don't want to be late" Yara said with excitement leading the group forward.

"Hah, doesn't matter if we are late. I'm the lead guitarist they can't start the show without me." Emyd responded.

* * *

"This last one's for you, babe!" Emyd yelled into the microphone and giving the small crowd a wink.

A cheer erupted from the women in the crowd.

Yara gave Rae a slight nudge with her elbow. "How cute he dedicated this one to you" She yelled over the noise with a smile.

Rae nodded in acknowledgment with a smile, as the sound in the small venue had gotten too loud for her to answer back.

Rex put his hands on Yara's hips as she danced in place to the music.

When the song ended Emyd grabbed the microphone again and thanked the crowd before walking off stage.

The group of friends grabbed a table by the door and waited for Emyd to join them.

They watched as the tall lanky blonde musician walked out from one of the back rooms and made his way to the bar.

"Here ya go kid, forty munny as promised. Maybe with a few more years of practice I'll move you to the weekends" The man behind the counter said to Emyd as he handed him payment.

Emyd sat down at the empty space Rae had left for him on the round booths end. He put his arm around Rae leaning back as Yara continued whatever story she was telling. Hardly acknowledging that he had sat down.

Rae felt more than saw Emyds arm slide around her as he sat down. She had grown to really like it when he held her it made her feel safe and loved. He was the first person to really show her he cared about her. Anyone could say some words about always being together and caring for each other but words held a hollow meaning to her leaned into him resting her head on his shoulder not caring how sweaty he was from having been on stage. He smiled down at her.

Emyd saw Yara's lips move but he had no idea what she was saying. Sure, the sound on stage had been blaring and he was still adjusting to the new volume but that aside he had learned to tune her out a long time ago. She was always talking and always getting in the middle of everything, but she was Rae's best friend and roommate so he made the required effort with her. Emyd smiled as yara talked on.

Emyd leaned into Rae's ear without making it obvious he wasn't listening to Yara.

"How about tomorrow night we go to the waterfront restaurant just the two of us?" He whispered. His breath was warm and tickled her ear.

The corners of her mouth moved to form a slight smile in response.


	12. Chapter 12

**+++ Sorry for the short chapters but I find it easier to keep my thoughts straight if I divide it up this way. Thank you for reading. +++**

* * *

Lea looked down at the wild flowers in his hands. He had picked all of the yellow ones he could find; Rae loved the color yellow. With slow deliberate steps he walked up to the side of the cliff to where she was standing with her back turned to him. He watched as her long brown hair swayed in the light breeze brushing just past the waistline of her shorts, Lea loved her long hair. The sunset bathed everything in a golden light including Rae making her look ethereal.

"You're early" he said playfully while walking up behind her.

"No, you're just late." She responded with a laugh still looking forward at the sunset.

"Well then, please accept these flowers and my humblest of apologizes" He said playfully bowing to her.

Rae took the flowers from his outstretched hand and gave him a light hearted eye roll before sitting down

Lea looked up at her from his bow as she took the flowers and caught her eye roll. Even a feigned look of annoyance from her was enough to set his soul on fire. He would do anything to make her happy. He took his seat next to her on the edge of the cliff letting his legs dangle over the side.

The redhead leaning on his arm behind him slid the other around Rae holding her close. She leaned into him and he could smell the familiar sent of lavender that followed her everywhere. Lea kissed the top of her head softly as the two sat in silence watching the sunset.

* * *

Lea snapped back to reality when he heard Isa move in his sleep next to him. He had been daydreaming again. Could it really be considered a daydream if it was the middle of the night? He wondered to himself. He and Isa had been placed in the same cell when the scientist had brought more prisoners for their "research".

Lea's heart ached as he looked at Isa. They had been through so much in the last year and they had changed so much in that time. He could feel his best friend slipping away. Despite being in the same dark damp cell they hardly spoke. Lea knew that Isa didn't blame him for their situation but he still felt guilty.

I'm going to make sure we get out of here and I'm never going to ignore Isa's warnings again Lea decided. If he had listened to Isa about needing to grow up and be more responsible and get jobs they wouldn't have tried to pull their prank. Isa always knew what to do.

Lea closed his eyes he could still smell the lavender from his dreams.


	13. Chapter 13

Finally sleepy Rae placed the book on her nightstand and turned off the light.

As she lay in bed she let her mind wander no longer preoccupied with the days events.

She had read Isa's book over and over again in the weeks the boys had disappeared but still failed to understand why he liked it so much. It was such an awful story the two lovers were forever doomed to be apart, each going on suffering the loss of the other.

It had been a year since she had last read the book and she was honestly surprised she still had it when she found it the week before. With the warm weather of summer she had been reminded just how much had changed since her friends had left and she longed to feel the joys of simpler times; that was why she had started reading the book again.

Eventually her mind lead her to Emyd, it always did. Now there was a real love story one that had a happy ending thus far. When Isa and Lea had first left she had felt lost. She didn't socialize much in those first few weeks she kept to her self, spending most of the day searching for them and her evenings waiting for them at the cliffs outside of town. At first Yara had made an effort to cheer her up and so did other friends from school but Rae couldn't bring her self to accept it so easily then and eventually everyone got tired of trying to cheer her up, everyone except Emyd.

He had been there when no one else was and he was willing to wait for her to come around. She had tried to draw away from everyone but he wouldn't let her pull away from him. He was the one that gave her the hand to grab to pull her out of the hole of depression and self-pity she had dug for herself.

Emyd spent almost everyday of that summer with her waiting in the field to watch the sunset. Some days they would watch the sunset over the field of wildflowers from the patio of the last restaurant on the town's edge until eventually they traded watching the sunset for spending time together closer to the heart of the city.

It had been a slow fall for her but she knew she loved him. Sure he was self-centered and arrogant most of the time, but deep down she knew he cared for her. Aside from himself he put her above anything and anyone in his life and that was something she was content to live with. When he told her he loved her she believed him. Unlike anyone else in her life his words weren't empty. He would write her notes, buy her flowers, and take her on the most lavish of dates.

Rae fell asleep that night with smile as her final waking thoughts were of Emyd.

* * *

Emyd lived in a beautiful home high atop the hills of Radiant Garden where the view of the cliff-lined fields was perfect. He was lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family and never had a want or need that wasn't met.

He watched Rae every day rain or shine meet the two older boys at the cliff's edge to watch the sunset. Radiant Garden had the most beautiful sunsets of anywhere in the world but he never watched the sunsets he always watched her.

She wasn't the most beautiful girl he had ever seen but there was a mystery that surrounded her that he felt compelled to solve.

It had taken a lot of time but she was finally his, he exhaled a long breath. Tomorrow he was going to take her to the waterfront restaurant.

He turned off the lamp on his nightstand and fell asleep almost instantly.


	14. Chapter 14

Lea walked up the stone steps following Isa. Evan always clad in a white coat was leading the group up to one of the rooms where they performed their research. It was a walk Lea had taken a hundred times before but this time something felt different. His steps were slow and Lea felt an unsettling feeling in his stomach; something was definitely off. He felt a sharp poke at his back.

"Keep moving: Dilan growled as he poked the end of his lance into Lea's back forcing him to quicken his pace.

Dilan was one of the older researchers. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and long black dreadlocks. His ferocity matched his looks. He was the coldest of the group and seemed to lack any empathy at all. More often than not Dilan was placed as a guard during the more important experiments. From what Lea had gathered there was one group of researchers but many motives and agendas from within the group.

They were lead into one of the research rooms while Dilan waited outside. They entered the room only to see Braig and Aeleus unconscious on the floor. The sinking feeling in Lea's stomach only worsened. Xehanort was standing in the center of the room with a weapon positioned towards a small boy in the corner.

"What is the meaning of this?" Even screeched as he ran to put himself in front of the boy. Evan had always been protective of the indigo haired boy, Ienzo.

Ienzo was a few years younger than Isa and Lea and followed Evan everywhere. Probably because Evan had taken the young orphan under his wing when no one else would.

Lea couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy every time he saw Ienzo. The boy had someone who looked out for him someone to make sure he never had to experience the true hardships of being without a family. But, most of all he had someone protecting him from Xehanort making sure he never had to be a research subject. If Lea and Isa had had someone looking after them the way Evan did Ienzo, they would have never found themselves in this mess.

Without so much as a word Xehanort brought his weapon to collide with Evan's chest.

"What are you doing?!" were Evan's last words.

Lea looked to Isa expecting to share a look much like they had when they were taken prisoners the year before but Isa stood calm as could be watching the situation unfold. Xehanort stepped over Evan's crumpled form on the floor and over to Ienzo when Dilan rushed into the room having heard Evan's screams.

When Dilan entered the room He locked eyes with Xehanort for a moment before relaxing his stance and allowing the white haired man to slay the young boy in front of them.

Lea was in a panic now, tugging at Isa's jacket to get him to move. They needed to get out of there! Isa stayed motionless frozen by a mixture of fear and acceptance. Isa had expected to die in the castle, he had resigned himself to that fate a long time ago. A part of him wanted to turn and run but he knew it would do them no good. He decided he would rather face his fate head on instead of leaving this world in a screeching panic the way Evan had.

As if in response to Lea's attempt to get Isa's attention Dilan moved back a few steps to the door he had just entered and locked it.

Dilan proudly stepped in front of the two boys as Xehanort turned back to the three.

"Release my heart." Dilan said, his voice matching his proud stance.

With an exaggerated swing Xehanort sunk the weapon deep into Dilan's chest. The dark haired man let out a slight grunt before regaining his composure and falling to his knees and then to the floor.

Tears began to run from Lea's eyes. "I'm so sorry Isa." He whispered as he watched Xehanort stab his friend in the chest. Isa who had been silent until that point, let out a pained scream as he fell lifeless to the floor. Then Xehanort turned the blade on him.

Lea never felt the blade connect with him he was already gone. He was running through the field of wildflowers chasing Rae. When he had almost caught her, the field of flowers once again took on the look and feel of flames. In an instant the flames were extinguished and he found himself in a dark empty void. There was no sound, nothing to see but black, and he was alone. So this is death, he thought to himself.

The young redheads body hit the floor with a loud thud and Xehanort smiled.


	15. Chapter 15

Rae sat across from the table from Emyd at the Waterfront Restaurant. It was one of the nicest restaurants in town and certainly one of the if not the most expensive. The restaurant was only open seasonally in the summer just like the fountains. The romantic atmosphere of it drew a steady stream of couples on dates every night during the season. The restaurant was situated in the middle of the fountain court with gorgeous views of the water from nearly every table. Add a warm summer breeze, twinkle lights on the patio, and soft music and it was the sort of place you couldn't help but fall in love in.

Emyd had taken Rae to the Waterfront restaurant for one of their first real dates and it had become a spot they went regularly in the summer. He much preferred high quality table service to sitting in a field of overgrown weeds with 'flowers' and being half blinded watching the sun set.

"I can't believe how busy this place is tonight" Rae said looking around.

"Yeah, I guess everyone is excited they opened this week" Emyd responded.

 _Their conversation was light and comfortable. They had long passed the awkward new phase in the relationship and they had gotten to know each other well. Anyone looking in would think they had the perfect relationship and they would have been right had it been any other night. Neither one of them were aware of how life altering that night would be for them, and all of the inhabitants of Radiant Garden._

 _Deep in the depths of the castle the events that would set the course for their lives had already begun._

Rae leaned back in her chair laughing "You know, you used to be able to climb all the way to the top of the fountains before they remolded and added this restaurant." She said with a mock bragging tone.

"Yeah but you'd have to get wet to do it" Emyd said with a tone that was a mixture of laughter and disgust.

"Oh I forgot one drop of water and it would undo what took you an hour and half a can of hairspray to achieve." She retorted waving her hand in a dramatic dismissive gesture.

He smiled back at her as he took a sip of his drink. When he set his drink down he looked into Rae's eyes.

Emyd expected to see her smile or still laughing but she was wide eyed and frightened. He turned to see what she was looking at.

Behind him on the floor a dark violet shadow materialized seeming to crawl out of the ground. The creature was pure black but not just the color it was the embodiment of darkness; with bright yellow eyes in contrast to its dark body. Just then screams could be hear all over the restaurant followed by dishes shattering and the sounds of a large crowd in panic.

Emyd whirled around and stood to his feet. He threw his chair towards the creature before dashing for the exit without so much as a glance back for Rae.

The restaurant emptied in less than a minute and Rae found herself at the tale end of the crowd. Once outside the restaurant people scattered in all directions. The shadow creatures were everywhere and more were materializing with each passing second. Rae looked for Emyd but he was long gone.

She ran to the courtyard closer to the castle hoping to find Emyd there.

Instead she saw the shadow creatures attacking someone. The creatures had the man pinned to the ground and were crawling all over him. With no plan or even a second thought Rae ran to the man's defense.

Rae got in the middle and pushed the creatures off the man ignoring bites and scratches she was receiving. Gaining his footing again the man leapt to his feet; with an outstretched arm he summoned a weapon and destroyed horde of creatures surrounding Rae and him.

Rae looked at the man puzzled; this was no man, he was a mouse, a mouse with a sword.

"Thanks for your help" The mouse, said turning to face her. His voice was as high pitched as you would imagine and he stood three feet tall.

"The name's Mickey. What's yours?" the mouse asked.

"Rae"

"Well gosh Rae, that was mighty brave of you to help me. Aren't you scared of the heartless?"

"Heartless?"

"These creatures they are called heartless."

"Oh, well yes, I am scared of them but you looked like you needed help and I really didn't think too much about it."

Suddenly a new wave of heartless immerged from the stone ground. Mickey was poised ready to attach the creatures when he noticed they had lost interest in him and had turned their sights on Rae.

"Get behind me Rae" Mickey said summoning his keyblade once more.

When Mickey had successfully defeated the second onslaught of enemies he turned to Rae.

"It's you're pure heart they are after."

"My what?" Rae asked puzzled.

"Yeah, that's it. That's what I've been sensing from you. You have a pure heart and the heartless are drawn to it. You need to get out of here and run!" Mickey said adding a great deal of emphasis to the last part as the heartless came again.

Confused but not wanting to risk finding out what the heartless wanted with her she obeyed the mouse and ran. She wasn't sure where to go. Instinctively she ran for the edge of town to the fields of wildflowers but she never made it to the fields.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Author's Notes:**_

 _ **I am terribly sorry for the slow update. Work has been very busy this last week and I've been feeling somewhat uninspired. I'm frustrated with the last few chapters I updated as they are short and lacking in description. I am still following my rough outline for the chapters I have planned and I have no intentions of abandoning this story. I've actually written four more chapters but they are sporadic in where they fit in the story. I've even written the last two already. I'm not sure if I want to shorten the story and then go back and write prequels and sequels or just carry on and make this one incredibly long. I've toyed with writing more back stories for everyone as I feel like most characters are one dimensional. The story so far has caught up with the end of BBS and I have ideas that would take it all the way through DDD. Any feed back is appreciated.** _

* * *

Saix stood in the sparsely furnished white room looking out the window. The night was bright despite the moon being hidden behind the clouds. The sight brought memories of his past to his mind. The memories of a simpler time when he would escape his worries and walk the streets of Radiant Garden with only the moon for company.

"Hmmh" a slightly condescending laugh escaped his lips.

What a useless memory he thought to himself. A nobody didn't have worries that needed escaping. It was a childish tradition that once he had his heart back he would put an end to.

The door to the bedroom opened and in stepped the tall lanky redhead.

"Anyone ever tell you its rude to barge into someone's room? Especially when they aren't home." Asked the redhead in a slow emotionless tone that still managed to drip with sarcasm.

Saix didn't respond or so much as turn from looking out the window. The redhead crossed the room to stand next to him.

"If we are going to regain our hearts we must be diligent in our pursuit of Kingdom Hearts." Saix said in a cold tone.

"Stopping for sea salt ice cream isn't going to unravel our plans" the redhead said this time adopting an exaggeratedly offensive tone.

"Axel, if we are going to take over the organization I need to get closer." Saix said, completely ignoring the attempt at humor from his friend.

"I can handle all the dirty work. I'll clear the way to the top for you. You just worry about staying there." Axel said as he sat on the end of his bed finishing his ice cream.

Saix nodded and left without another word.

* * *

Three years, that's how long they had been nobodies. They were void of a heart and all emotions. They were creatures that should have never existed yet here they were. Xemnas had given them their new names along with the others. Gone were Isa and Lea, in their place the empty shells called Saix and Axel. These new names required no getting used to. They no longer identified with their old names. Those names felt as foreign as trying to recall an old childhood friend.

When they had awoken after their hearts were torn from them everything had changed. For over a year they had been locked in a dungeon and been unwilling experiments. Now, they were equals with their tormentors in an organization of shells seeking to regain their hearts. They had been given a choice along with their new names; to join the organization and complete Kingdom Hearts in order to regain themselves or leave. The choice was simple, to leave meant to be doomed to an entire non existence without a heart or any means in which to obtain one. They may not have been locked in a dungeon any more but they were till prisoners to a cause they didn't believe in all because they wanted their hearts, The white castle became their prison and the organization numbers their chains. Maybe that was a bad comparison the blunette thought to himself. He could remember the names Isa and Lea but what was that girl's name?

* * *

As Axel walked the white halls of the caste back to his room his boots made hollow echo on the marble floor. His steps were hard and he didn't pay attention to the echo. It was late and most of the other members of the Organization had gone to sleep. He would have normally been asleep by now himself but after todays mission it was too hard to wind down. He had just returned from a fact-finding mission from Hollow Bastion. It was the first time he had been back since the world fell to darkness and the first time in four years he had been anywhere but the dungeons. He was sure Xemnas had sent him there as a cruel reminder. He knew Xemnas despised him, he didn't need a heart to feel that.

* * *

Once he gathered the necessary information he decided to do his own investigating. Most of the buildings were destroyed so there wasn't much to see. He thought about finding the old orphanage but ultimately decided against it. It was a sad reminder that not only had Lea lost his life but everything that was a part of his life was gone too. His mind began to wander to thoughts of Rae. What had happened to her when this world fell? Did she perish with it?

Axel walked mindlessly until he found himself standing on the edge of a jagged purple cliff. If he had to guess it would have been the cliff the trio watched every sunset from. The wildflowers were gone and it looked more like a wasteland than anything else.

 _-I'm Sorry-_

It was an intrusive thought and one he immediately dismissed. He was a nobody and was in capable of feeling sorry. It was hard for Axel to process being a nobody. He knew what he should feel but he just couldn't feel it. Does anyone else fell this frustrated? He wondered.

He bent forward and looked over the edge, the fall didn't seem as far as he remembered it. The soft breeze that had been so common for this spot was replaced with a harsh howling wind. One foot in front of the other her walked right off the cliff. As he fell he outstretched his arms to his sides without any attempt to break his fall. Just as he was about to hit the ground he opened a dark corridor and appeared in the grey room of the castle that housed the organization.

* * *

The redhead walked to the kitchen and removed a sea salt ice-cream from the freezer before making his way to his room; his boots echoing with each step.

When Axel first came to be he tried to pretend he had feelings. He tried to live as closet to a normal life as possible. He even tried to drag Saix to other worlds to watch the sunset and he ate ice cream every day. But, the charade became trying and he soon abandoned any notion of a connection to Lea. He stopped watching the sunset and he stopped eating ice-cream. He felt truly felt nothing staring at the red light fade in the sky and the ice cream tasted like ash in his mouth.

There was something about Hollow Bastion that made him try once more to relive the past.

When he reached his room he was only mildly surprised to see Saix.

"I can handle all the dirty work. I'll clear the way to the top for you. You just worry about staying there." Axel said as he sat on the end of his bed finishing his ice cream.

Saix nodded and left.

Axel had promised himself that he would do whatever Saix asked, he owed him that much. He would let Saix make the plans and he would do whatever it took to make sure they happened. He vowed he would never disobey an order, making his own decisions had never done him any good.

Exhausted he readied himself for bed. There would be plenty more to do in the morning.


End file.
